Different
by DancingKitKat
Summary: If five complete strangers asked you to help them, would you do it? Well, now there are five people asking me to help them become used to the human world, because apparently they come from a whole different universe composed of living, talking machines. Well, they're insane, and I'm going to try to stay as far away as possible from them. But I don't think that's gonna happen...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Disney Pixar's Cars. I only own Kelly Cadance and Andrea Hussarya. Laur14 owns Shannon Harper, and J.K. Rowling owns Lord Voldemort (he is not featured in this story, only mentioned, but that doesn't mean he belongs to me).**

**Rated T for occasional rude humor, slight language (if you consider "crap" and "freaking" as swearwords, which I don't), what I anticipate to be mild violence featured mainly in later chapters, and because I'm paranoid.**

**Enjoy!**

...

You know, my life was blissfully ordinary until I heard the scream.

Well, perhaps not ordinary. After all, I had been an orphan since the age of six, and I suppose my personality is a pretty unique one. I've met a lot of people who've called me "weird," and not without reason. But compared to what it became after I heard the scream, my life until the age of fifteen was perfectly, completely, utterly ordinary.

So yes, the scream. I was taking a stroll by the outskirts of the town I live in - Greensville, which, being located in the desert, isn't actually all that green, unless you count the sparse cacti here and there. Greensville is somewhat dangerously in the shadow of a tall canyon wall that climbs up into the sky. The other side of the canyon isn't nearly as high, but the town is still fitted pretty snugly between the two walls. We're near being a ghost town - the 15 orphanage kids make up about 15 percent of the population. I suppose most people don't want to live in a town that looks like it'll be crushed at the first loud shout, which is why no one shouts - none of us want to trigger and be flattened by an avalanche.

But this day, someone did yell. As I said, I was walking just around the edges of town when I heard them cry out. I gave a small jump of surprise and looked up the side of the canyon - it sounded like the person had shouted maybe twenty feet above me, their voice carrying on the wind. They sounded pretty panicked, and I worried that one of the orphan kids had gotten stuck up there. That Marco was never really very smart. So I started up the rocks, half walking, half climbing, hoping that no one fell, including me.

I found myself under a ledge, on which I could hear worried voices talking.

"...calm down, or we'll never get anywhere."

"Alright, but what on earth are we?!"

"I don't know, Miss Carerra, I have never seen anything like this before."

"But - "

"Is everything okay up there?" I called, hoping for a "yes." I didn't get any answer, except the voices fell silent. Rolling my eyes at whatever idiot kids were up there, I gave a small jump, clinging to the ledge, and hauled myself onto the rock. The second I looked up, I found myself at gunpoint.

I gasped. Who - what - _why was there a pistol?!_ And why was it aimed _at me_?! I know this is the West, but I hadn't thought I would ever see a bandit.

"AHHH! IT'S DA GHOSTLIGHT!"

The Ghost what? I looked beyond the gun as a burly sort of man stumbled backwards and fell on his rump in his eagerness to get away from me. Another man, this one with messy, dark red hair, turned and said, "Mater, that's not the Ghostlight!"

"Then wha' is it?" the first man - Mater - asked in a quivering voice. The red-haired man gazed at me for a second.

"I don't really know..."

I would have given the two a look clearly stating that I thought they were crazy, but I had more pressing issues. I switched my attention to the gun in my face. Slowly, I looked up the barrel, expecting to see a rough, tall man with a cowboy hat and red bandanna holding it. But no, the owner was a sleek-looking sort of man, with a small, black mustache, aqua eyes, and wearing a silvery-blue suit. Though I had never seen the movies, I instantly thought of James Bond. "Who are you?"

I swallowed. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to be truthful to the guy aiming a gun at me, but I probably also shouldn't lie. Who knew, maybe he could read minds. I settled for stammering, "I - I - I, um..."

"Finn - " a young woman next to him wheedled, but this Finn didn't move. He looked at me with a ferocious sort of glare, as though he were dealing with a dangerous criminal.

"Identify yourself," Finn ordered.

I glanced at the gun. "_Fine_. I'm Kelly Cadance, age fifteen, an orphan down at the Greensville orphanage, have curly brown hair, blue eyes, am five feet and six inches tall, like to read, can't draw to save my life, and, as I am just now proving, have a large sense of humor that has been known to get me in trouble and probably has doomed me to a tragic and untimely death. There, that enough information for you, Mr. James Bond?"

Behind Finn, the red-haired man snorted. I glanced at him. He had blue eyes, though not as dark as my own, and looked very fit, the sort of guy who would have been on his high school football team. Maybe he played in college, too. "She's sassy."

"Yes, I can be, and I apparently also have a mouth with a death wish," I muttered, more to myself than him. I looked up at Finn. "Now, if you're going to shoot me, I would recommend doing it now, before I either call for help or go ninja-mode and stuff that gun right up your - "

The red-haired man was now laughing, and the green-eyed woman next to Finn was also suppressing a smile at the look on Finn's face. Apparently, no one had ever given him advice on the best way to kill them. "Well, Miss Cadance, would you please inform us on what... What this... Erm, what exactly are we?"

I stared at him, still lying on my stomach on the rock. "You're kidding, right?"

Another guy behind Finn shook his head. "No, he ain't. Wha' da heck are we?"

I raised my eyebrows. "Seriously? Dude, you must have some really concerning issues if you don't know what you are." I totally have a mouth with a death wish. Stupid mouth. "You're a _human_," I said slowly, as if I were explaining something to a confused, unintelligent three-year-old. "You have arms, " - I lifted my arms - "legs," - I wiggled my legs - "a head," - I gestured at my head - "fingers, toes, veins, a heart, lungs, blood, and a whole bunch of other external and internal body parts that I don't know the names of because I got sick halfway during health class."

Very few of those words seemed to register with the group of five. I saw a pretty blonde woman with light emerald eyes glance at the red-haired man, who no longer looked so amused. The British guy said, "Could you please repeat that, but slower this time? What are _fingers_... _Toes_... _Veins_...?"

"What, did you fail health class, too?" Okay, that was a lie. I didn't fail health class, but my grade wasn't too impressive. Besides art, it's the only class I had trouble in.

"No, but..." The guy glanced at his accomplices. The dark-haired, green-eyed woman next to him took over, gently pushing the gun away from my head.

"Finn, I don't think she's dangerous," she said kindly.

"_Thank_ _you_," I replied, standing up and giving Finn a significant glare.

"Pardon me, but I couldn't be sure," apologized Finn, stowing his gun away somewhat clumsily.

"Please, I'm a teenage girl. Who were you expecting me to be, Lord Voldemort?"

"No, but like I said, I couldn't be sure."

I rolled my eyes at him, but before I could say anything, the red-haired man said, "Wait, you're a teenager?"

"Yeah, I just said a few minutes ago - I'm fifteen."

The guy looked surprised. "No way! I thought you were maybe twelve, or thirteen."

"Okay, one; being thirteen makes you a teenager. And two; hey! Are you calling me immature? Cause I will have you know, I can be very mature, but I have a tendency to get really sassy and crack a lot of stupid jokes when I get panicked or scared, which most people will when they have a freaking _gun_ aimed at their head, and oh, did I mention I ramble some, too?"

The man opened his mouth, but the dark-haired woman in the purple blouse cut across him. "Um, excuse me, Miss Cadance, I'm terribly sorry about Finn holding you at gunpoint, we're all just kind of, well, shocked... You see, we come from a different, well, a different universe, where we're all cars, and so waking up to find ourselves... In this form was very surprising and unsettling... We've never actually seen a 'human,' you know..."

I gaped at her for a moment, before saying, "Would you like the address to the nearest mental hospital? It's a bit of a drive, but I think you'll find it worth your time."

No one laughed this time. The broad-shouldered, rusty-haired man - Mater, I think his name was - stepped up to the woman's side, and as he wrapped his hand around her waist, said, "Holley weren't jokin', Miss Kelly. We really is cars, and was transported 'ere by dem nasty Lemons..."

"You were transported here by _lemons_? As in the _fruit_?" I asked, completely blown away. These people really were nuts. "Man, you really do need the mental hospital, don't you?"

"We're not mental," the blonde woman piped up. "We come from a universe where everyone is a car... Or plane... Or boat... Well, no one's a human, and we were apparently transported here by a group of criminals referred to as 'Lemons,' and we could, um, use some help..."

"I'm sorry, but my mother always told me not to trust strangers with mental instability, so yeah, bye." This joke was entirely inaccurate, as my mother has never said any such thing before sailing off a cliff in the Pennsylvanian mountains. Anyway, I tried to turn and jump away, but the dark-haired woman - Holley - grabbed my wrist. I whipped around to face her. "Get off me!"

"No - please - Kelly, we really are telling the truth," the woman pleaded. "Please, we have no idea where or even _what_ we are, please, just help us out, we're not crazy..."

"Why do you want me to help you?" I had to know, even though asking that question could possibly assure them that I would, in fact, help them out.

"Well, you're the only human, aren't you...?" Holley seemed to realize that there must be more humans as she spoke. I confirmed,

"No, there are plenty more humans."

"Oh..."

"Yeah, so go annoy one of them, you don't want me," I said, trying to wriggle out of Holley's grasp, but for a person who claimed to have been a car up until a while ago, she had a strong grip.

"No, please, Kelly, just... Please, help us a bit, I swear we're being honest... Please..."

I paused. I couldn't help but pity people who were so unsettled in their minds that they didn't even recognize their own species. Or maybe they were just really great actors. I thought about it. Maybe I could help these people recover from whatever mental problems they were having... But that man Finn, he was armed... I shouldn't trust them...

"Why do you have a gun?" I blurted out, looking at Finn.

"Oh, right, sorry. I, well..." Finn hesitated, and I could see the gears working behind his eyes, searching for a cover story. But he appeared to decide to just be honest, and said, "Holley and I are spies, so naturally, we are armed, though I think this gun is empty, after the battle..." He held the weapon up and examined it. "No, it's not loaded."

I gaped. "You expect me to believe you're _spies_?" Before Finn could reply, I wretched my arm out of Holley's grasp, flung my hands up in exasperation, and exclaimed, "Look, I'm sorry, but I'm done. Good luck with whatever." And Holley had just opened her mouth to protest when I jumped off the ledge, nearly broke my ankle, and stormed off as best as I could while limping and cursing worse than a sailor.

...

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! A little review would be nice. I love all the reviews you guys give me, and each one makes me smile.**

**Hopefully I will update by Wednesday. I'm on spring break this week, so I should manage several new chapters.**

**Oh, and I've chosen Kelli Berglund to portray Kelly in this book. Just a side thought. **

**Thanks for reading!**

**Kitty**


	2. Chapter 2

I couldn't believe the insanity of that group. Cars? Spies? I actually pitied them a bit, and could not get them out of my head as I jogged to Anne's, the simply-named restaurant I worked at. I know I previously said I was fifteen, but Anne, the restaurant owner, didn't care about the age of her employees. Rather, she only cared about the quality of their work, and she thought I made a fine employee. Besides, she took pity on us orphanage kids.

I ran into the orphanage, ignoring Ms. Hannah's cries of annoyance - she did not appreciate it when us kids ran in the orphanage. I zipped into the room I shared with Shannon Harper, my best friend, threw on my uniform for work - a navy blouse and black skirt with a white apron, then thundered back down the stairs, exchanging a high-five with Shannon as she casually strolled up to our room since I did not have time to properly greet her, then ran down to Anne's.

I arrived ten minutes late. "Sorry, Anne," I puffed as I bustled into the kitchen, pulling my long, curly brown hair into a disheveled ponytail. I noticed too late that I was wearing my dusty, worn-out black Converse-style sneakers instead of the more sophisticated ballet flats I was supposed to wear. Oh, well. It could have been worse. I grabbed my notepad and went out to serve the customers waiting for their dinner.

Being located in a town with a population of about one hundred, Anne's wasn't constantly busy. However, since it was so cozy and welcoming, many people came to eat at the place and mingle. It had a comfortable, cheery atmosphere, and it felt like the place where everyone were friends and all was well. I was very lucky to work there.

"Hello, how are you all?" I greeted a family, the Smiths, with a smile.

"We're very good, Kelly," said Mrs. Smith. "And you?"

"I'm fine, thanks." Although I am a little freaked out with my encounter with five nutters earlier. You don't wanna know the story. "What would you all like to drink?"

"A Diet Coke, water, and milk, please," Mrs. Smith requested.

"Aw, Mom," moaned the little Smith boy, Reggie, "but I - "

"No 'buts', Reggie."

I scribbled down the order. "I'll be right back, then," I gave the family a smile, then turned and walked down to the next table. "Hi, how are you?"

The lone boy reclining at the table didn't return my smile as he said, "Fine, thanks, and yourself?" The boy had spiky blonde hair and brown eyes, which could have easily held warmth and good will, but instead possessed a hardened, almost cruel look. I knew him. Steven LaCrox, fellow orphan. Like many of the orphans, he had the right to be bitter, but unlike most of the orphans, he chose to remain sulky and hostile.

"I'm good, thanks. Have you decided what you want to drink?"

"Yes, I'll have a Pepsi, please."

"Alright," I said as I scribbled down Steven's order. "I'll be right back out with your drink." I offered him another smile before I headed back to the kitchen to fix the drinks.

Upon coming out, I glanced at the hostess's stand, and saw Anne in discussion with...

The lunatics from earlier.

As my jaw dropped, so did the tray I was carrying. I fumbled it, then jumped back out of the splash zone as the contents sprayed everywhere, and the three glasses broke (Reggie's milk was in a plastic cup). Everyone's curious gazes flew to me, and my face went red. I ducked down as Anne hurried over, scolding me. I kept my head down in the hopes that Finn and the other lunatics didn't recognize me. No luck.

"Kelly!" the red-haired man exclaimed, and he rushed over to help me. I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, cursing myself, then looked up. Our eyes met.

"Er... Hi."

"Here, let me help," he offered, carefully picking up pieces of glass. Holley also came over and started to help with the clean up. The cook from the kitchen tossed me a towel, and I caught it gratefully. In a minute, the mess was cleaned up from the wooden floor, but I still had more problems to come.

"So this is where you work?" said the redhead.

"Yes," I replied stiffly as I headed into the kitchen. He followed me, despite the fact that the sign on the door clearly stated "Employees Only."

"Nice place."

"Yes, it is, now get out of the kitchen or Anne'll have my hide," I said as I dropped the broken glass in the garbage and flung the sodden towel in a sink.

"Kelly, listen, about earlier - "

I whipped around to face the man. "I'm sorry, but the answer is still no." The cook was eyeing us curiously, and I lowered my tone. "Please, can you just leave me be?"

"Why don't you believe us?"

I rolled my eyes. "You expect me to believe that you're from another planet? And Holley and Finn are spies? Do I _look_ like an idiot to you?"

"No, you don't, but I swear we're telling the truth!"

"Prove it."

The man was silent as he thought over that. Convinced that I had him cornered, I turned away, about to prepare another round of drinks, but then the man exclaimed, "Here!" I looked back to see him searching in his pocket for something, and then then he pulled something out. His thumbs tapped furiously at the screen of a strangely large cell phone before he thrust his hand out at me, brandishing the phone. I took it, and my eyebrows raised up my forehead.

On the screen was a picture of two cars parked side-by-side. One was a red race car, with stickers on his sides and hood, and the other was a baby-blue Porsche. The strange thing about the photo was that both of the cars were grinning and had eyes in their windshields. I glanced up. The man standing before me had the exact same blue eye color as the race car, and I glanced at his jacket. Now that I was taking a close look at it, I could see it sported the same stickers as the car, along with the number 95. I looked back at the race car. He was number 95.

Slightly intrigued, I scrolled through several of the pictures, all of cars with eyes and mouths, and doing things cars shouldn't have been able to do. I felt something shift inside of me, my resolve to avoid the group crumbling, but only for a second, before common sense rebuked me.

"Look, I'm sorry, this doesn't actually prove anything - " I said I passed the phone back over.

"No, please! This " - the man shoved the phone back under my nose and poked the red race car on the screen - "is me! Lightning McQueen! This " - he gestured to the Porsche - "is my fiancee, Sally, Sally Carerra!"

"This still doesn't prove a thing!" I cried, shoving the phone back at the man, Lightning. I heard the front door opening, and more people arrived, chatting loudly. I tried to get back to work, but Lightning wasn't giving up any time soon.

"Please, you have to believe me! I'm Lightning McQueen, star race car, I won the Piston Cup four times - "

"The _what_ cup?"

" - I was trained by Doc Hudson, three time winner of the Piston Cup, I'm engaged to Sally Carerra - "

"Yeah, you said so - "

" - she's a lawyer, Mater's a tow truck - "

"Don't you mean a tow truck _driver_?"

"No!" Lightning cried. The cook gave us another baffled look. "He's a tow truck!"

"_Would you quiet down?!_"

Lightning found an advantage, and raised his voice so that it rang into the dining area. "Holley's a Jaguar, Finn's an Aston Martin, and they're spies!" The voices outside the kitchen fell silent, and I cringed. "They work for C.H.R.O.M.E., which stands for Command Headquarters for Recon Operations and Motorized Espionage, and _did I mention I'm a race car_ - ?!"

This was too much. "Okay!" I blurted out, throwing up my hands to cut off his rant. The cook looked extremely puzzled by now. "Okay, I'll help you,. Just don't tell anyone you're a car or whatever..."

"So you mean that you believe us?" said Lightning eagerly.

"No, but I will still help you." I must have been crazy.

Lightning didn't look completely satisfied, but he had crossed one milestone - baby steps, after all. "Okay, great, thanks."

I didn't reply to this, as it was a problem, he was not welcome, and it was most definitely not my pleasure. I turned and finished preparing the family's and Steven's drinks, then brushed by Lightning to serve them. "Kelly - "

"I will talk to you later, but right now I have a job to do," I cut him off coolly before moving on.

I was distracted the entire night. Lightning, Sally, Mater, Holley, and Finn stayed at the restaurant waiting for me. I had to serve them dinner, and toyed with the idea of poisoning the meal. Just kidding, but I did wish they would just up and disappear, leaving me to continue my boring old life.

But no, as soon as I bid Anne good-bye, I found myself facing five eager and relieved faces. "So what do you need me to do?" I asked, trying to keep annoyance out of my tone and failing miserably.

"Well, we should probably find a lodging before we discuss anything," said Finn. "Would we be able to stay at your house?"

"I thought I already tell you, I'm an orphan," I said crossly. "But there's a motel in town you can stay. It's not exactly five-stars, but it'll have to do."

"Oh, excuse my ignorance. Er, that sounds wonderful," said Finn, who looked embarrassed at suggesting his group stay at my house, which didn't actually exist.

"Follow me."

I lead them to the motel, the few stars in the inky sky providing our path with a bit of light. "Do you guys have enough money?"

"I have my credit card," Lightning offered.

"Good."

The others discussed rooming, but I walked on in silence as they decided Holley and Sally would share a room, as would Lightning, Finn, and Mater.

We reached the run-down motel at the edge of town. It was a shabby, slightly dirty place, and I was glad that it was Lightning and the others sleeping there, and not me. The orphanage isn't much, but at least you don't have to worry about bedbugs. Evil little creatures, they are.

We walked up to the front desk. The person lounging behind it, reading a magazine, glanced up and was amazed at the number of people who needed a place to stay - it was probably a record for the motel. The place didn't have much business here in Greensville.

"Oh - um, wow, hi, how can I help you?"

"Hi, can we have two rooms, please?" asked Lightning.

"Uh, yeah, sure," the guy said, looking slightly uncomfortable. It was clear he had not dealt with business in quite some time as he fumbled around to find the price. "Uh, oh, yeah, that'll be... fifty bucks for one night."

Lightning pulled out his credit card and handed it over to the man. He made to swipe it on the aged cash register, then froze. For a second, I thought that the cash register was too old to use credit cards on. Then, I took a good look at the card. "Hey, dude, what kinda card is this? I dunno if I can use it..."

I snatched the card from the man's grasp. The thing looked ridiculous. It was large, bore a logo with a cartoon car with a smiling bumper and eyes, and was of the company "Quick Cars." I stuffed it back in Lightning's hand, gave him a "_What the heck?_" look, and told the motel worker, "We'll pay with cash."

Though they seemed slightly confused, the group behind me managed to come up with the necessary amount, and the man, though he seemed a bit wary and suspicious, supplied Lightning with two keys and directed him to Rooms 1 and 2.

A minute later, everyone was gathered in Room 1 and gazing at me as I turned the lock on the door. I turned to face the group. "So what do you need me for?"

"Well, for one thing," started the blonde woman I believed to be Sally, "we - "

"Is you da Ghostlight?" The broad-shouldered man interrupted. I frowned.

"The what?"

"Da Ghostlight!" the man exclaimed, and Lightning groaned.

"Mater, don't - "

"Haven't ya ever heard of da Ghostlight?"

"No..." I said, and before I knew it, Mater was telling me all about this "Ghostlight."

"Da Ghostlight is a glowing blue light, and it haunts Radiator Springs!" Mater insisted. "It eats cars! Or, um, I dunno exactly _wha'_ it does ta cars, but it ain't purty!"

"Um, OK, then..." I said, confused. "What about the 'Ghostlight'?"

"Is you it?"

"Am I the Ghostlight?" I asked, incredulous. Mater nodded vigorously, looking wary. "What - do I _look _like a glowing blue light to you?"

"Well, you're glowing red right now," Lightning muttered. Thanks for the help, Lightning, old pal.

"Well, no... But maybe da Ghostlight can change forms!" Mater looked terrified at this possibility.

"I'm not the Ghostlight!"

"Is you sure?"

"Yes."

"Where's da proof?" Mater looked triumphant. I huffed, exasperated and still slightly bemused.

"I am not the Ghostlight, was never the Ghostlight, will never be the Ghostlight, and have nothing to do with the Ghostlight, OK?"

Mater peered at me for another second, then said, "OK."

Slightly taken aback at his acceptance, I lamely replied, "OK." Then I cleared my throat and looked at the rest of the group. "So, er, what now?"

...

**Hey guys, I hope you liked this chapter! Thanks for all the reviews, and in response to a guest review asking where Doc was, the truth is he will not be in this book. For whatever reason, I don't like imagining Doc as an old human. Young/middle-aged human - I'm fine. Old car - I'm fine. Old human? Just no. So yeah, sorry.**

**Thanks for reading, and a little review would be mighty appreciated. :3**

**Kitty**


	3. Chapter 3

"Well, I suppose we should introduce ourselves," said Sally. "I'm Sally Carrera."

"Tow Mater."

"Finn McMissile."

"Holley Shiftwell."

"You know me," said Lightning. I nodded to the others as though this information was new, although I had already picked up most of their names from Lightning.

"It's nice to meet you." They could tell I was lying. "Now that we've introduced ourselves and resolved the Ghostlight issue... What do you want from me?"

"We need guidance," said Holley, who was sitting on a bed. I was surprised to see that she appeared completely at ease with her surroundings - I didn't know much about her, but I had the impression that she was a prim, elegant British lady who would be disgusted by this dirty, unkempt motel.

"What do you mean?"

"We know nothing about your world. Can you teach us about it?"

I frowned. "I've never taught anyone anything, really. Where do you want me to begin? What do you want to know?"

"How to act normal."

"Well, just... Be normal," I responded pathetically, fidgeting and toying with my hair, which had fallen out of it's ponytail. "Look, you're giving me nothing to build my answer on. I can't tell you how to behave normal here when I don't know what normal is from where you are. I need the necessary information to compare the two places."

Holley looked mildly impressed at my response. "That's true."

"I say you just observe how people act here for a few days, and once you get the hang of it, just blend in and do whatever you're here to do."

"We need to find out how to get home," said Finn.

"We have to get back soon," added Lightning, looking as though he had just realized something bad as he ran his hand through his hair, distressed. "I have a race this Friday!"

Sally nodded, frowning as she looked around at us. "We all have our own lives and jobs, but it's no good worrying about it." She looked like she would spend plenty of time worrying about it. "There isn't anything we can do but try to get back."

"But how? How are we supposed to get back? We don't even know how we got here! Well, we know how, but not how the thing the sent us here did that," said Lightning.

"I can do some research," offered Holley, looking pleased to have something of a plan. I watched them, slightly bemused. They just would not drop their theory that they had been cars in another world. I wondered how long they would stick to their claims. Hopefully not too long.

"That'd be wonderful, Holley," Finn said. Holley nodded, her eyes slightly glazed over, as though she were already thinking about what books or websites she should look on for information. Mater sat down next to Holley on the bed and put an arm around her slender figure.

"Ah know you'll find somethan' good, Holley," he said. Holley blinked, returning to earth, and smiled at Mater.

"Thanks, honey."

I cleared my throat. "Well, it looks like you've got things sorted out, so I don't think you really need me anymore."

Holley's smile faded, and she shook her head. "Kelly, please, help us out."

"I tried, but you're making this hard for me! I need information, examples, if you want me to answer your question! I'm not a computer, you can't just type something into me and expect half a million good answers!"

"This is confusing for us, Kelly, we don't know what to do! We need help."

"You just said you were going to do research!"

"Yes, but I can't just look up 'how to act normal in the human world!' We need a real-world guide."

"Actually, you'll be surprised at what Google can do for a person. There are even answers for 'how to yodel.'"

"How do you know that?" Holley asked, looking suspicious. I blushed and gazed at my feet.

"My friend Shannon looked it up once..."

Holley opened her mouth to continue the argument, but Sally cut across sharply.

"I just remembered - sorry, Holley - Kelly, you said something earlier to Finn about not being Lord Voldemort."

"Yeah, so?" I said, looking back up.

"Who is Lord Voldemort here?"

I blanched, my mouth hanging open. I felt personally insulted that Sally was not familiar with the sensation that was Harry Potter. "You don't have - he's from Harry Potter! Are you saying you don't know what Harry Potter is?!"

"No, I do," said Sally, looking at me curiously. Please, like she hasn't seen a crazed Harry Potter fan before. Or had she? I couldn't tell for sure. "Harry Potter is a popular book series in our world. But you know about him too?"

"Who doesn't? Harry Potter is one of the most amazing book series ever," I said. Sally's eyes widened.

"Here, too?" asked Lightning. I nodded, feeling slightly lost.

"Of course."

Holley's eyebrows furrowed in thought, she asked, "Is Harry Potter written by J.K. Rowling here?"

I nodded. "Yes, of course J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter! Who else would?"

"Does this world have... seven continents?"

"Yeah," I said, wrinkling my nose. What was she getting at?

"Asia, Africa, Antarctica, South and North America - "

"Europe and Australia? Um, yeah. Why?"

Holley ignored my question as she stood up, her eyes sparkling. "Elvis Presley? Jane Austen? Cleopatra? Did they all exist here?" asked Holley excitedly.

"Yes, but why are you asking?" By then, I was feeling slightly frustrated. What was Holley's point?

"Unless I'm mistaken, it sounds like the human and cars worlds share similarities," Holley explained. "J.K. Rowling, the seven continents... They exist here, and in the cars world! Maybe people act the same here as they do in the cars world!"

"Good observation, Holley!" exclaimed Finn, clapping Holley gently on the shoulder. Holley smiled as the others added their own congratulations.

"Thank you," she said. "I'll have to look into it more, but this is really intriguing. I wonder why..." Holley drifted off into her thoughts, gazing at the wall.

"Do you still need me?" I asked, not impressed with Holley's discovery. I still thought they were insane, or else were just some serious pranksters. "I'm not doing anything really important here, and I need to get back home."

Sally looked over at me, her eyes suddenly stormy. Lightning noticed her annoyance, and sensed a possible fight. He opened his mouth as Sally said, "What is your problem?"

"Excuse me?" I raised my eyebrows incredulously.

"You don't care about any of this, you just want to get out of here," Sally said, taking a step toward me. I also took a step in her direction, anger bubbling in my chest. "You can't stand to help us."

"You're right, I can't," I said saucily, crossing my arms. "You're all a bunch of lunatics! You didn't come from a world of cars! That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard! Who would believe that?"

"Why can't you - "

"Sally," Lightning interrupted, his voice surprisingly stern. Sally whipped around to face him.

"Lightning!" Lightning jumped back so quickly he stepped on Finn's toes. Finn grunted. "Stay out of this!"

"I'm not even doing anything useful here! I don't care what you say, I'm leaving," I growled before turning on my heel and stalking across the room to the door, unfolding my arms and letting them swing in fists by my side.

"Wait, Kelly - " Lightning started, hurrying past Sally, and I wheeled around.

"No! I'm done!" I half-shouted before rushing out the door and slamming it behind me. Judging from the look the motel owner gave me as I stomped past him, smoke was literally pouring out of my ears.

I shoved the front door open, and was greeted by a rush of cool evening air. I inhaled it deeply, and it began to extinguish the little fire raging in my heart. What on earth was the matter with those people? They were absolutely nuts. They didn't need my help! They didn't need any help! Well, they did, actually. I really should have suggested seeing a mental health doctor or someone before leaving.

I was still wearing my blouse from work, and the hairs on my bare arms stood on end in the chilly air. I looked up. The clouds had drifted away, revealing the stars. I examined the constellations as I walked back to the orphanage, my anger fading. It was no big deal, really... I forced Sally and the others out of my mind and tried to focus on enjoying the night. Despite the cold, it was very nice out. Refreshing.

Feeling content for the first time that evening, I lingered for a moment outside the orphanage doors, still enjoying the brisk wind ruffling my hair, before entering the building. Or at least, trying to. The doors were locked.

My good mood failed, and I hissed. I tried again to open the doors. They wouldn't budge. I looked at the windows. All dark. What time was it? The orphanage doors locked at ten, so obviously, it was past then. I walked around the house, checking for unlocked windows. Nothing. So I had to knock on the doors, blushing furiously.

A minute later, I heard the door being unbolted. It swung open, revealing a very irritated Miss Hannah in her bathrobe. "Kelly! You're late," she said angrily.

"I'm sorry," I muttered before slipping past her into the dark orphanage. Miss Hannah scolded me as I trudged up the stairs, and I only managed to shake her off when I entered my room. For a minute, I thought my roommate and good friend Shannon Harper was asleep, but once Miss Hannah's door slammed shut down the hall, she sat up.

"What happened? Your shift ended an hour ago."

I sighed and flopped down on my bed, not even bothering to remove my shoes. I didn't look at Shannon as I told her my tale - rather, I stared out the window at the twinkling stars, wishing I were still outside.

"Wow," Shannon whispered when I had finished talking. "That's pretty wild."

"You can say that again," I said tiredly.

"That's pretty wild."

I smiled slightly at her silliness. "Yeah."

"What do you think they were up to?"

I rolled over. "I don't know."

"I'm guessing you aren't going to go back to see them?"

"Course not."

"What if you run into them in town?"

I hadn't thought of that. "I - I don't know. I'm assuming they'll leave... But I suppose I can't be sure of that." I sighed. "We can talk about this tomorrow, but I'm exhausted, and we have school tomorrow."

"Don't remind me," snorted Shannon. Shannon and school didn't exactly go together. Shannon thought there were many better ways to be spending her time than sitting in a classroom - such as pranking people. She did do quite a bit of pranking. Sometimes her friend Tyler Prescott, or Ty, as he was called, joined her. I did too, every now and then, but I wanted to keep my records as clean as possible. My goal in life was to get out of this tiny, insignificant town, and become successful. As what, I wasn't sure. I liked to write, and had a talent for it. But the trouble was, I could never come up with a good story. I was a good singer, but not skilled enough to make a career out of it. I was considering trying to get a Major in writing, and see if college helped to inspire me. I disliked not having a solid plan for my future, but it was the best I could do.

If all else failed, I could get a job as Andrea's assistance. My friend, Andrea Hussarya, was brilliant. She was very intelligent, and bound to become successful. Maybe she'd start some sort of great company, and become a millionaire. But Andrea was terribly shy, and it held her back. It took her ages to become comfortable with Shannon, who was a bit wild. I often liked to describe Shannon as a cross between a Weasley Twin and a Slytherin. She was troublesome, loves pranks, and sly. She probably had more detentions than everyone at our small school combined. Everyone knew her, and just about everyone liked her.

I got ready for bed slowly, yawning. After putting on my pajamas I crawled under my blankets. I considered taking out my diary and writing in it - the day's events would make my most exciting entry yet. But I was too tired. So I said good-night to Shannon, and fell asleep two and a half seconds later.

...

**Hey guys! Hope you liked this chapter!**

**I'd appreciate it if you guys left a review, especially if anyone has a tip on how I can improve the dialog in the beginning and middle of the chapter. I felt like it was a bit off and slightly awkward. **

**Thanks for reading!**

**Kitty**


	4. Chapter 4

A slight tickling sensation aroused me. For a second, I was too groggy to register it. Then I realized something small had scampered up my bare arm, and was now exploring my face. My eyes flew open and I shrieked, bolting upright and swiping at my face. "OHMYGOSHGETITOFFGETITOFF!"

"Hey!" cried Shannon, swooping in on me. "Be careful, you could hurt him!"

I stopped panicking as I realized the offending _thing_ was off me. Shannon, who was still in her pajamas, was stroking her small lizard, murmuring, "Are you OK? Did the big, bad Kelly hurt you?"

I recognized the lizard as what had awoken me. "Are you kidding me? You put that thing on me? What the heck happened to the alarm clock?"

"I woke up early, got bored, and wanted to see time fly," Shannon said casually, still stroking the lizard. "So, I threw the clock out the window. And you didn't wake up when I said, 'Get up, lazy," so Cooper volunteered to wake you up for me."

I glared distastefully at Cooper, the lizard. "The heck, Shannon?"

Just then, the alarm clock went off, countering Shannon's claims of having tossed it out the window. I smacked it and it obediently shut up. I flopped back down and pulled my pillow over my face. "Why would you do that?"

"It's funny," said Shannon.

"I beg to differ," I replied sarcastically. Shannon snorted.

"Well, you better get up now. We have to leave in less than half an hour."

"I know," I said, but not making a move to get up until I sensed Shannon leaning back over me with her reptile. "OK, OK, I'm up!"

...

At lunch, I sat a good few feet away from Shannon. Andrea was chuckling as Shannon described the lizard incident, and I was rolling my eyes, though hiding an amused smirk. Now that the lizard was safely in his box, the whole thing was a lot more entertaining.

"Anything else new with you guys?" asked Andrea, taking a bite of salad.

"Yeah," said Shannon, "Kelly met some lunatics yesterday who insist they were cars in another universe!"

"Seriously?" Andrea looked to me to confirm this.

I grimaced at the memory of them. I had been attempting to not think about Lightning, Sally, Holley, Finn, and Mater, because then I would feel bad for abandoning them. Then I would assure myself that they were faking their issues, and they were lunatics. Naturally this would bring me to the subject that the nutjobs still needed help, and this led to me having a huge inward argument with myself. "Yeah, they were really weird," I said. "They asked me to help them, but I said I wouldn't."

"That's strange," said Andrea, frowning as she mulled over this information. "Why would they do that?"

"I've got no idea, don't ask me to try and work out what goes on in the minds of nutters," I replied, picking up my sandwich.

"Speaking of nutters," Shannon said, and I glanced over at her. Shannon was scowling at Steven, who had paused by our table. "Get out of here, Steven!"

Steven huffed, but obliged. I suppose he, too, knew that Shannon possessed a lizard that existed to do her bidding. Or so Shannon said.

"He's such a creep," I muttered to my friends, who nodded.

"I swear, he's always staring at you in class," Shannon said. I snorted.

"Of course he is. I mean, aren't all the boys staring at me?"

Shannon and Andrea laughed. I grinned. "So, what are you guys doing later?"

"Going over to Ty's," said Shannon, sniffing some unidentifiable meat the lunch ladies had served up, then pushing it aside for her pudding cup. "Guess what we're gonna do?"

"Play video games," Andrea and I answered in sync. Shannon shook her head.

"Not even close. We're going to make origami."

I raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding, right?"

"Duh."

I chuckled as Shannon continued, "You guys wanna come with?"

"Well, I was going to study," said Andrea, a note of uncertainty in her voice, "But I suppose I could come, if Mom says it's OK."

"Kelly?"

"Sure, as long as you don't play Outlast." I shuddered. "That game's so freaky. It gives me nightmares."

"I think it's cool," said Shannon, "but we'll play something else."

"Good."

The bell went off, and I blinked in surprise. Lunch was over already? But I hadn't finished my sandwich... I shrugged to myself and stuffed the sandwich in my mouth, then nearly choked on a glop of peanut butter. Shannon jumped up. "I'll save you with the Heimlich Maneuver!" she cried loudly. Then, more quietly, "I've always wanted to do this."

My throat miraculously cleared. "I'm good!" I yelped as Shannon reached toward me.

"No, you're not, now let me squeeze you!"

"Andrea, help!"

Andrea just giggled and gathered up our trash on a tray while Shannon chased me out of the cafeteria, demanding I let her squeeze me.

"What am I, a stuffed animal? You can't squeeze me!" I yelled as I sprinted down the hall.

"Yes, you are, now stand still and let me squeeze you!"

"Never!" I declared, looking back at Shannon as I darted around a corner. This was a mistake, for a second later, I collided with something large, round, and squishy. Hey, here was something for Shannon to squeeze, other than me. Then I looked at the big, soft thing I had ran into, and realized it was the stomach of the school principle.

"Oh, um, hiiiiii, Mr. Rickard..."

...

Thankfully, Shannon and I were able to avoid detention, though the principle did warn us against running in the halls. Then he waddled away, rubbing his stomach as though I had pained it. Please, I wasn't nearly big enough to cause harm to that thing.

The rest of the school day was uneventful. Shannon and I didn't return to the orphanage with the other kids on the bus that Miss Hannah drove from Greensville to Jackson, the town our school was located in. Jackson was about twenty-five minutes away from Greensville, but a lot bigger. Andrea and Ty lived in Jackson, and Shannon and I often went over to their houses, like we were this day.

The four of us lounged in Ty's basement. Shannon had lied, and she and Ty were, in fact, playing Outlast. Andrea and I were trying to do our homework, but the noise from the video game was distracting.

"Could you turn that down?" I asked Shannon and Ty, getting up on my knees and peering over the back of the couch they were playing on. Andrea and I were working on the floor behind the couch, so we couldn't see the game.

"No, we might miss something," replied Shannon, not taking her eyes off the screen. I glanced at the image, and instantly regretted it.

"Eurg!" I said, ducking back down, shuddering as I told Andrea, "Well, I'll never un-see that."

"Poor you," said Andrea dryly as she tried to do her Algebra.

"I know."

After a moment, I suggested Andrea and I go upstairs to study. Andrea quickly agreed, and we gathered up our stuff and trooped up the stairs. We had just gotten comfortable at the kitchen table when Shannon and Ty appeared. I gave them an incredulous look.

"What are you doing?"

"Coming up here," said Ty casually, heading toward the fridge.

"Why?"

"Because playing Outlast isn't as fun when we're not annoying you guys," Shannon explained, grabbing a package of cookies as Ty got the milk and some glasses. I stared at Shannon.

"Really?"

Shannon just gave me a silly little grin before biting into a cookie. I sighed and got myself a cookie, but refused Ty's offering of a glass of milk.

"It's a good source of calcium," Ty said in a teasing voice, waving the glass before me and spilling a bit of the drink on the floor. "My cousin can confirm. He's studying to be a doctor."

"You don't have to be a doctor to know that there is calcium in milk," I said. Ty looked surprised.

"You don't?"

"No, idiot."

"How'd you find out about calcium being in milk? You nearly failed health class."

Andrea looked as though she were resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "Everyone knows there's calcium in milk. It's a common fact. Besides, she could have just looked at the nutrition label on a jug of milk. The nutrition label lists all the - "

"No!" cried Ty, jumping away from Andrea in alarm. More milk sloshed onto the floor. Andrea looked startled.

"What'd I do?"

"I refuse to learn something outside of school."

"I second that," said Shannon, taking another bite of cookie as she sat down in a chair.

I snickered at the scandalized look on Andrea's face, even though I thought that Shannon and Ty's resolve to not learn anything outside of school was ridiculous.

"Why not?" asked Andrea.

"It's boring," said Ty as he mopped up the mess he made.

"Well, you're never gonna get anywhere if you don't learn anything other than what your education requires you to," I said.

"Ty and I want to learn cool things," said Shannon. "Not about nutrition labels. No offense, Andrea."

"Define 'cool things.'"

"Bungee jumping!" cried Ty, jumping up from the floor. He was still holding the glass of milk, so it spilled again.

I facepalmed.

...

I avoided the gazes of Lightning and the others, who were again dining at Anne's. However, when I was confident they were no longer looking at me, I took a peek at them. They were wearing the clothes they had been the previous day. They appeared to have tried tidying their hair, but none had used a brush or comb. They all looked stressed and tired, and were talking to one another in quiet tones as they picked at their meal, which Anne had served to them before I arrived.

I turned away and continued with the other two customers. When I went back toward the kitchen, I again looked back at Lightning and the rest of the group. Lightning was handing money over to Anne to pay for the meal. Anne glanced at the money, then froze before laughing a great booming laugh. "What the heck is this about? No, no, I don't accept Monopoly money, or whatever this is. I only accept real cash."

Lightning looked completely bewildered. "What do you mean? That is real money!"

"Haha, how funny. Look, kid, you gotta pay with real cash."

I felt uncomfortable viewing the scene. I began to walk away before my conscience rebuked me. Stupid conscience. I sighed and placed an empty tray on a table before walking over.

"Anne, I'll pay for their meal. Take it out of my wages, OK?"

"Now, that's very nice of ya, Kelly, but these people gotta pay for their own food, fair and square."

"It's OK, I know them," I insisted, not looking at the surprised group. Anne still looked unsure, but then shrugged.

"Alrighty, then, if you must" said Anne. She gave me a pat on the shoulder as she walked away.

"Thank you, Kelly," said Holley, scooting out of the booth and standing up. "I'm terribly sorry about this, how can we make it up to you?"

I wanted them out of my life. They were nothing but a bother. But they really needed help. "Forget it," I said. "It's fine. But why'd she - "

I trailed off as I spotted the money Lightning was holding. Between his fingers was the image of a car, with eyes and - good Lord - a wig, printed on a green bill. I suppressed a groan.

"Why are you helping us?" asked Sally, sounding slightly cool.

"Because you obviously need it," I said bluntly. "I mean, did you even comb your hair this morning? You're wearing the same clothes as yesterday."

"Clothes?" asked Mater, confused.

"Yes, clothes! The things you're wearing!"

Mater looked down at his clothes, frowning. "Dese are 'clothes?'"

"Yes, what did you think they were?"

"Ah thought dey were some kinda weird paintjob..."

I blinked. "Um, no, of course not. Is that all the clothing you have?"

"I dink so..."

I sighed. "You're gonna need to get more..."

"What do ya mean?"

"People change their clothes everyday."

"Sounds like Ramone," commented Lightning. Sally nodded.

"You guys need to get jobs," I said, leaning against the side of the booth with my right hand on my hip. Finn nodded.

"Do you know where we can get jobs?"

"You'll have to look in Jackson, which is one of the nearest towns, about twenty-five minutes away from here. You should be able to find some jobs there. Nothing too fancy, though."

Sally nodded. "Alright, that's something. So you're saying we need to buy more clothes?"

"Yes."

"Why can't we use our money? Is it not valid here?"

"No, it isn't."

"Oh." Sally looked worried. "Then I guess we'll have to give the motel owner new money."

"Oh, yeah..." said Lightning, frowning. "Whoops."

I shrugged. "He won't notice. He's not the observant type, really. I think he needs glasses or something. I can't believe he noticed your credit card."

Lightning gave a short laugh. "Still, we'll switch the money we gave him with some of your currency once we can."

I nodded. "Alright."

...

Crappy ending. Oh well.

Sorry this is kind of repetitive, but I feel it's necessary to the story that Kelly is hesitant to help the Cars, and portraying her as a generally nice person, but who, like everyone, has limits.

Ty belongs to Laur14.

Thanks for reading! Please review. :3

Kitty


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